FF,
Sometimes I get lucky and the meat comes out tender but it never, ever has that reddish pink hue. That's what I'm thinking about. How do I get the inside of the meat to that color. Does it depend on the cut of meat or cooking method?

Managed to make a descent stew the other night with very tender meat (chuck) but an issue arose; when browning meat dredged in flour, by the time I'm done browning batches of meat, the excess flour from the first batch has now burned ruining any attempt at producing a good sauce. How do I get around this? I tried to shake off excess flour before going into the pot but there still was some.

now-a-days I don't do the flour dredge. especially if the meat has some marbling I want to render out and yet still get a decent browning. frankly, I've not noticed any big down side to no flour dredging on the beef....

cooking for two (ie small batches) I start with a bit of oil in the pan, brown off the meat, remove, add some flour to (basically) make a roux, and brown it.

. . . if I don't have any "secret ingredient" in the freezer - that being....when I have the time I'll make up two sticks of butter and flour into a roux and freeze it at the blonde stage.... lop off one-to-many tablespoons as needed . . . .

with bigger batches perhaps one could sort out the chunks and save a last batch for dredging. that way the flour does not have too long to go....?

I know the reddish color you mean and sometimes I achieve it. But I don't know why and since its never been an important factor to me I haven't tried to solve that mystery.

Like Dillbert I don't dredge either. Just make sure that the meat is really really dry. Wetness will prohibit you from searing. Not sure why you are using flour but if its to achieve browning you don't need it. So pat with paper towels and sear. If you are using flour to achieve a thick sauce then do as Dillbert explained, add the flour after you sear and before adding the liquid.

I'm not sure the color of the meat is what you really should be after when stewing. It's not as if a stewed meat is somehow magically medium rare inside in some applications. It is cooked low and slow for hours until none of the meat is even resembling "well done" but is cooked well past it. You might be falling victim to photography that shows meat that is cooked medium in a stew. If that is the case, know that they are simply playing tricks.. searing some meat to a perfect medium, and then presenting that along side a "stew" as if it were the most luscious tender stew meat possible.

If that is not what you mean, then I might suggest the pink meats that are stewed had sodium nitrites added to them as a preservative. That will result in a pinker meat color.

Hm. Stewed meat always has been heated long enough that no red or pink should be visible from the myoglobin in the meat. Perhaps you had something that has been cured before stewing? A nitrite cure will give that color to meat. I know some local German dishes that work that way.

EDIT: Hem, well. Eastshores said it before me. Should read all the posts before answering :D

Isn't there another chemical applied to meat that keeps it looking fresh? Like when you buy a package of ground beef that has the typical red, raw beef color on the outside, but is browner on the inside?